Table 1.: Schedule of Questions Used in Data Collection

•Academic issues & support
  • How important to you is academic support & from whom do you receive it?
  • What academic pressures are there?
•Individual Personal/family Circumstances
  • Are there any particular issues like finances, family commitments, travel, stress and so on that are relevant?
•Personality
  • Agreeableness, conscientiousness and perseverance are mentioned, as are determination and stubbornness. What do you think?
•Placements
  • How does placement experience influence your decision to stay?
•The reality of nursing life
  • Some people find that they just did not understand the difficulties and pressures that nursing work can bring. Has this happened to you? If so how did you overcome it?
•Overall, what is keeping you here/made you leave?
•Ideal situation: if you could dream or imagine the ideal situation for you personally, what would have helped you most over the course of the programme